Electrolytic cell



' L. W. CHU'BB. ELLcTRoLYTm CELL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3.1917.

WITNESSES: L INVENTOR w y ew/3 W 672ml:

r BY 7ATTRNEY UNITED `SflATfaif PATENT. oFFicE.

' n l I LnwIs w. cm3, or nnonwoon PABX, ENNsYLvANIA, AssIcNoi-i To wEsTING'.'

noUsn momo AND MANUFACTURING conrANY, A CORPORATION or- PENN- SYLVANIA.,

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known thatv I, LnwIs W. Online, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Edgewood Park, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have 1nvented a new and useful Improvement In Electrolytic Cells, of which the following is a s ecilication. l

. y invention relates to electrolytic cells,

such as condensers, lightning arresters, rectifiers and the like, consisting of plates or other active members whichv are composed` of nlm-forming material and are adapted for' immersionin suitable hlm-forming electrolytes. n

The object of my invention is to provide active conducting members for electrolytic cells of the above-indicated character which shall be composed wholly or in. part of titanium or of compounds of titanium.

Electrolytic cells 'of the kind to which my invention relates depend, for their operation, upon the property possessed by certain substances of acquiringasymmetric conducting/films when impressed with. electric potential in the presence of a vsuitable film-forming electrolyte. The metal most commonly employed. forthis purpose' is aluminum but the same roperty of -forming as etric conducting lms is possessed by other metalsv and also by certain non-metallic substances.

I have discovered that metallic titanium is well suited for use as the active mater1al in electrolytic cells of the above-indicated character, because of its ability to Aforml asymmetric conducting lms and also because its superficial ilm possesses very high speciiic inductive capacitance and is thin enough to have a high capacitance per unit area.

The single figure of the accompanyingI drawing illustrates a conventional type of electrolytic cell that may be constructed in accordance with my invention. In view of the well known manner ofvconstructing the various parts of an electrolytic c el1, "it is unnecessary to give a' detailed description of such a constructionand theelectrol e employed may be any suitable lmorming electrolyte, as indicated by the legend on the drawing. The electrodes may be formed of titanium or. Aa titanium compound as an oxid, as indicated on the drawing and more fully described hereinafter.

Emc'rnoLYTIc onu..

sp'eoinmitn of Letters raten. Patented J une 2951.920. Application nea February s isi?.- serial Titanium has not, until recently, been prepared in pure metallic form, the materials which 'have heretofore beenadescribed as titanium bein -fvery impure and consisting largely of car id and oxid JIt is now possible, however, to produce substantially pure titanium by Such as rutile or ilmenite from titanium compounds such as the tetrachlorid or from ferro-titanium, the metal being reduced `either by means of alkali metals or-by electrolysis. My present invention, so far as it relates to metallic titanimm, is concerned withC the pure or substantially pure metal, as distinguished from titanium containing lar e amounts of impurities.

reduction of titaniferous ores,

itanium plates for electrolytic condensu ers, lightning arresters and similar cells may be providedwith conducting films by means .l

of any usual or desired lilmforniing electrolyte and may be treated and operated in the same manner as ordinary aluminum -plates. Such treatment may, for example, include pickling -with acid andv heat treatment in order to improve the characteristics of the metal.

Plates having desirable characteristics may also be made from certain compounds of titanium, such as titanium dioxid, in the v `form of` natural rutile, or iron-titanium oizid inthe form of ilmenite. Since it is dilicult to obtain masses of these substances of the proper size and shape for use vas the active members of, electrolytic cells, the

oxids may be applied in linely divided form to the surfaces of supporting plates or other materials such as aluminum.

I have found that the titanium ilni has a specific inductive capacitance many times v :render the titanium plates muchv better in service than aluminum plates.

Y It is to be understood that my present invention is not restricted to -plates of any particular form or size or to" any particular kind 4of service, since plates of titanium and titanium oxids may be used in electrolytic cells under all circumstances Where aluminum plates have heretofore been employed. If desired, the entire plate need not be composed of titanium, but may consist of aluminum, iron or other conducting material prof vided with a, surface coating of titanium, the plates, in such cases, operating substantially as if the entire plate consisted of titanium. In view of the 'widevariety of applications to which my invention is adapted, it is to be understood that no limitations are to be imposed thereon except such as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A film-forming conductor for electrolytic cells composed of metallic titanium.

2. A lm-formin conductor for electrolytic cells adapted or immersion in an electrolyte and having its surface exposed to the electroylyte composed of metallic titanium.

3. -An electrolytic cell comprising a (plurality of conducting electrodes adapte to ccperate with an electrolyte and at least one of which is composed of metallic titanium.-

4. An electrolytic cell comprising a plu-r 6. A film-forming conductor for electro` lytic cells embodying titanium and provided with an asymmetric film.

7 A film-formin conductor for electrolytic cells adapted or immersion in an electrolyte and having a surface embodying titanium exposed-to the electrolyte.

8. An electrolytic cell comprising a.plu

rality of plates adapted'for immerslon 1n an electrolyte and embodying titanium.

9. An electrolytic cell comprising a plurality of conducting. electrodes adapted for immersion in an electrolyte and having surfaces exposed tothe electrolyte that are covered with' an asymmetric film embodying titanium.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 19th day of J anuary, 1917.

LEJWIS W. CHUBB. 

